Saturday morning at city hall, residents expressed their concerns about the brush clearance program. Public resource code 4291 allows for the LA County fire department to conduct brush inspections which for Santa Clarita residents in fire zones and will begin May 1.
The department allows 30 days to get into compliance from the inspection date or homeowners may have to pay a $100 fee, which will be billed on the property tax for 2024.
“Our goal is to not get to that point, our goal is to really help you come into compliance,” Chief Durbin said. “We don’t want to charge fees. I don’t want to do that.”
Despite concerns from the community, the department maintains that structure protection is their focus.
“This is truly collaborative between the residents and the fire department to get this right,” battalion chief Pat Sprengel said. “Because the day that we do have a fire, we want to be able to get in there and have an opportunity to at least defend your structure.”
